Stories of
American Heroes -
Brought to you from the "Home of Heroes" - Pueblo, Colorado

News From The
Past

Press ReleaseJanuary, 2001

Were
Deserving Jewish War Veterans Denied the Medal of Honor?
Wexler Bill will Require Review of War-time Records

(Washington, DC) Congressman
Robert Wexler (D-FL) has introduced legislation requiring the Pentagon to
review the wartime records of Jewish American veterans who were previously
denied consideration for the Congressional Medal of Honor. The Leonard Kravitz
Jewish War Veterans Act of 2001 was introduced yesterday by Congressman Wexler
with the bi-partisan support of Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-NY), Rep. Joseph
Crowley (D-NY), and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA).

The Wexler legislation directs
the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to review the records of
Jewish war veterans who were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy
Cross, or Air Force Cross to determine whether their acts of bravery should
have been recognized with the Congressional Medal of Honor for their bravery.
It is believed that lingering prejudice within the Armed Forces following
World War II and the Korean War may have deprived deserving Jewish veterans of
the nation's highest military honor.

The Leonard Kravitz Jewish War
Veterans Act of 2001 is modeled after legislation that became law in February,
1996, which required an identical review for Asian American war veterans.
Following this review, 21 deserving Asian American veterans were granted the
Congressional Medal of Honor.

The legislation's namesake is
Private First Class Leonard Kravitz, who was killed in action during the
Korean War. Private Kravitz sacrificed his life by heroically remaining behind
to man a machine gun turret to protect his division as they were forced into a
retreat. Another U.S. soldier was awarded the Congressional Medal for a
similar act of heroism during the Korean War, but Private Kravitz was
unfortunately and unfairly rejected from consideration